Apparatus for mixing custom color toner for a color copier or printer using a traveling wave toner transport device, hereinafter referred to as a "device", which mixes the colorants while transporting them to the photoreceptor.
In a typical color copier or printer, three color separations, cyan, magenta and yellow (CMY), can be used to create all colors in a final color print. However, while black can be generated by the use of these three colors, a better print will result if black toner is also used (CMYK) to produce the darker tones, resulting in four separations.
A further refinement is to use a custom color for special areas. For example, skin tones are difficult to reproduce in standard CMYK systems because, in any combination of toners, the separate colors are applied one on top of the other, and so a smooth blend of toner is difficult to produce. If a custom color is required it is typical to load pre-mixed toner into the printer and use it as an additional separation. However, this can be inconvenient since the custom color toner must be loaded into the printer before printing and removed after the run is complete.
What is needed is a system that can mix a custom color from the original CMYK toners and apply that to the photoreceptor.